Feedbackhall, a newly launched website has been created for Nigerian consumers to review and comment about real life experiences with any service provider or with products in order for other consumers to learn and be able to make more informed decisions about certain products and services.
The online platform also allows for producers, as well as service providers, to take into consideration, customers feedback to positively affect development process.
Speaking at the launch of Feedbackhall in Lagos on Thursday, 9 August, 2018, Catherine Chiugo Kanu, Director and Founder of Feedbackhall said that the aim of the website was to encourage consumers to share feedback, either positive or negative, in order to help consumers and to encourage producers to use the feedback to develop user-cantered innovative products.
“As a producer or service provider, you cannot produce optimum products or deliver best in class services if you do not have a clear idea of what your customers like and what they do not like. Feedbakhall believes that its aims have a mutual relationship, because as consumers give feedback, service providers and producers are encouraged and can up their game,” Kanu said.
Pat Utomi, who was the Chairman of the occasion told BusinessDay that “the introduction of an independent consumer feedback platform is apt, especially at a time when civil society has not done enough for consumer protection.”
Utomi said “consumer protection needs part of activism from the media and other organised groups to help those complaining to find their voices and getting realistic feedback is critical for competitiveness.”
As part of the services on the feedbackhall website, other people, once registered, can make comments on reviews to vote it down or up, users can update but cannot remove comments from the website and consumer reviews are posted immediately. The website automatically aggregates ratings and selects best products in each category.
Delivering the key note address, Babatunde Irukera, Director-General, Consumer Protection Council (CPC), Babatunde Irukera, said that information is key in the protection of consumers and producers’ rights.
Defining the platform as the one stop choice for processed information, Irukera who spoke on; “Information as a tool of accountability” said that the consumer space in Nigeria has been abused for such a long time and so it has become necessary to use technology to ensure full disclosure to consumers and to improve consumer rights.
Osita Aboloma, Director-General, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), who was represented by Mathias Bassey, said that SON will ensure partnership with Feedbackhall to further promote the protection of the rights of consumers and producers.
Kanu, who said that the company is currently working on ensuring maximum security for checks and balances on the website, so as to avoid deliberate witch-hunting by competitors in the same market, noted that the vision of Feedbackhall is to build and sustain a reputation as the largest and most reliable online review community in Africa.
“We are working on ways in the back end to pull down malicious and deliberate attacks on companies and products by competitors because we want any information gotten on this website to be genuine and reliable,” she said while answering questions from the audience.
Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson
